The TCA's Press Tours allow the major television networks to present their slate of upcoming programs to a large group of press writers from different outlets all at once through panels and interviews. They meet in the Los Angeles area twice a year, in January and July.
Here is a collection of notes from the 2006 CBS panel.
"We are going to see more of Grissom and Sara, which was hugely embraced by the audience last year. You will definitely see that relationship evolve."
"In Sin City, our CSI's go out in the field every night and they solve these crimes, but as Naren has said to me, it's bailing the ocean with a thimble. In season 7, we're going to explore what effect does this have on Catherine, Grissom, the rest of the team. We will push Grissom to an emotional place, a sabbatical of sorts."
"There have been raging debates in the writers' room since season one about Sara's relationship with Grissom, pre-Las Vegas, what actually happened in San Francisco? The room is fairly divided and has been over the seasons. I happen to think they were intimate in San Francisco but not once they got to Las Vegas, at least in the beginning. Since I'm the show runner, I won the debate."
"I came back from hiatus and had all these letters on my desk from around the world. I don't know whether it was just that my assistant put all the 'pro' letters on my desk but I read letters from students at Harvard, science teachers, viewers from Italy. And across the board, the fans wrote it was such a pleasure to see two adults, two professionals who are so good at their jobs, have found each other and are now engaged in an intimate and mature relationship that's not salacious. You didn't see them ripping off each other's clothes."
"That's this season," Fox interjected with a laugh. "Billy and I have been working out all summer."
"I think Gary might not have had any idea that his character would be married. Or I don't think George had any idea that he would spend 48 hours in a box. You know, you just get this little description and you take this journey."
"In this tiny little character description that you get when you're trying out for a show, it suggested that she was a love interest for Gil Grissom. Being that it was there, along with other little strange things - she could drink anybody under the table and had some social problems - I was very intrigued and sort of had been gearing up from the beginning of the show that this might happen."
"One of the greatest gifts of being on this show is that we're starting our seventh year, and there's still so many intimate stories that we could tell about these characters. I think it's pretty rare for a show to be on for seven seasons and hopefully you still want to know more about the people than you do."
"It's also terrifying because I think there's a certain peace that comes with doing more of a procedural show,"
"There's been about 50 percent of the audience who would like to know more about the characters and about 50 percent who would really rather stick to the stories. And I think the writers did something bold and brilliant by trying to just really follow their hearts, which is what I think we try to do."
"When you've got a split that is that significant, all you can really do is to kind of just tell what you feel passionate about and hope that people go on the road with you. But it is really exciting, yeah, and scary, because then you step out into these storylines and you're like - what if they go badly? There is an element of safety sometimes with sticking with the hair fibers and the flies."
"I run into some people who think it's great but I've also had some bitter fans say, 'What are you doing with him? You should be with Greg!'"
"I think one of the coolest things about it, and the way that the story ended up being delivered at the end of the season - and [it was] quite really brilliant, as I think the writers are - is that we suddenly find these characters together, and we know not how long this has been going on. And I think that was a really brilliant way to do it. I think it's going to open a lot of ideas for the characters."
"I was really nervous, because you're so invested in characters. I think it's a cool storyline and it's untraditional; it's slightly taboo, it's slightly scandalous. There's a million reasons to love it as an actor, to tell the truth. I love working with Billy. Obviously, the first two seasons we worked a lot together. I actually couldn't stand him for the first few months we worked together. And he knows that, so I can tell you that. And I really thought, 'How am going to make it through this show? I don't even like this guy.' And something happened right around December, where we pushed through something. I don't think he liked me that much either, to be perfectly honest. And all of a sudden we found this rhythm and this place. So it's really exciting to get to take it on."
"Grey's is very celebrated for a lot of good reasons. One of them has a lot to do with the personal lives of their characters. The good thing I can say about Sara and Grissom is that idea started before we knew we were going up against Grey's. I mean, obviously the Sara-Grissom thing has gone on for six years, but the idea to bring that to light happened before we knew we were going to be up against Grey's. So I think there will be very little about our show that will change. I don't think we're going to be more like Grey's. I think that would be very foolish of us to do."
"The idea right now going into season seven, if I'm not mistaken, is that Grissom and Sara are the only people, and the beautiful audience, that know this is actually taking place."
"Six seasons into the show, it was a very organic and I think a well-deserved end to the season for the fans. And we hinted at it toward the end of this last season."
"It's impossible to find a scene or a moment when you're dealing with that type of situation that isn't going to [tick] off half the people,"
"It was the right thing to do for those characters and when we talked about it, everybody felt that. Everybody felt it was the right moment,"
"What do you do when something you've kept at bay for the longest time, which is really the sadness and the misery of a certain part of this job, actually gets through your defenses?
Part of what we were doing with Grissom and Sara being together is, here's a guy who for the first time in maybe his life is reaching out to another human being, this is a very guarded and private person. It's even difficult to say what was the interaction with Lady Heather - you could make the argument that it was more academic and intellectual than physical. But here is something that he is doing that is uncharacteristic.
And that prompts the question - Why? He's going through some changes. He's kind of in a position where he's feeling like [asking the questions], 'Is this all that I am? Am I a guy who just likes to finish the crossword puzzle? Am I more than that? And if I am more than that, what am I and who am I going to share that with?'
And that's really the longer term [theme], in the sense of Grissom as the spine of our show - that's where we're going."
Shankar says the producers sat down with Petersen at the end of last season to discuss the implications of this twist. "From our perspective, when a guy like Grissom makes a move like this, to bring somebody into his life in a personal fashion, it says something pretty profound. Here's a guy who's been very guarded, kept people at a distance. When a person like that is letting someone into his life, what is he saying? What it's about is a guy who's reaching out."
"After six years, he's no longer a mentor teaching a bunch of raw recruits. The people that he started with are now almost teachers in their own right. So you get to a point in your life when you get a little bit older and you go, 'Is this all I am? Am I just the guy that solves the crossword puzzle?' And if the answer is no, the question is, 'Do you want to share that with somebody?' And with Sara, he's saying just that. Part of Grissom's journey this season is going to be to ask what else is he? Is there anything else out there for him? Is he only going to be that guy who is bailing out the ocean with a thimble? Because there's always going to be another murder."
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